2023 Kia Niro EV Owner Complaints

Check electric vehicle system warning light indicator illuminates and car stops driving on highway! A/C and defrost won't work properly and when turned on causes the above warning light and malfunction. Car will not charge at "fast" charging stations and will leave you stranded on highway. I live in [XXX] and the vehicle only does it when humidity is high outside. Issue also causes problems with the 12V battery. SEVERE SAFETY ISSUE WHEN CAR SHUTS DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HIGHWAY DRIVING AT ANY SPEED. It is the system ICCU (Integrate Charge Control Unit) that KIA has a limited warranty coverage on and should be reviewed for recall. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11744166

Incident

Jun 15, 2026

The vehicle is a rental vehicle. It experienced two incidents of sudden loss of propulsion within the first two days of operation. During both events, the vehicle became completely unresponsive to accelerator pedal input and would not move despite being placed in Drive. I attempted to shift the vehicle into Park and then back into Drive, but propulsion was not restored. No warning lights, malfunction indicators, or system messages were displayed before or during the failure. The first incident occurred while exiting a car wash. The vehicle became immobilized in an active traffic lane and would not respond to throttle input, creating an immediate risk of rear-end collision. Vehicles were approaching from behind and I narrowly avoided being struck. The second incident occurred later the same day in a parking lot while the vehicle was charging. Again, the vehicle became unresponsive without warning and would not move. The intermittent and unpredictable loss of motive power presents a serious safety hazard because it prevents the driver from maintaining control and safely operating the vehicle in traffic conditions.

NHTSA ID

11719665

Incident

Feb 20, 2026

I did an OTA update that made the rear view camera work intermittently. It would just flash an image every couple of seconds instead of a live stream. I took it into the dealer, and on the way, it totally gave out in the middle of traffic in a very unsafe way. I was flashed with many warning signs and was not able to get it started again for 5min by just turning it on/off again. I finally got it to the dealer and after 6 weeks they told me that something spilled in the cup holders and fried the backup camera and drivetrain components. I find it extremely off the drivetrain and safety critical components are stored under a cup holder with no protection.

NHTSA ID

11712990

Incident

Dec 18, 2025

I have had the car since May 2023 and every winter moisture builds up on my windows on the inside of the car and over night it gets frozen from the inside. There is mold growing on the inside of the door panels, the back hatch window and under the seat and on the seat belts.

NHTSA ID

11637340

Incident

Jan 28, 2024

The contact owns a 2023 Kia Niro. The contact stated when parking the vehicle, the brake pedal was depressed, however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that the vehicle accelerated and jumped the curb. The contact stated that the vehicle was headed in the direction of the building. The contact noticed that a consumer was exiting the entrance of the building. The contact turned the steering wheel in the opposite direction to avoid hitting the consumer. The contact's vehicle crashed into the side of the building. The contact's vehicle was damaged to the front of the vehicle, which included the undercarriage, the battery pack, and both driver's side tires. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. A Police report was filed. No injuries were sustained. The insurance deemed the vehicle a total loss. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The failure mileage was approximately 12,030.

NHTSA ID

11625279

Incident

Nov 8, 2024

Mileage

12,030 mi

While driving on freeway, at a speed of 65-70MPH. Vehicle appeared to lose power. Navigation screen turned off, dash display dimmed and vehicle seemed to coast and not accelerate. Speed did drop down a bit, but then powered came back on, screen turned on and was able to accelerate again. No warning lights or error messages appeared on screen.

NHTSA ID

11613910

Incident

Sep 10, 2024

When slowing with regenerative braking, there is a ticking sound and shaking until the car stops.

NHTSA ID

11595788

Incident

Mar 1, 2024

I pulled the vehicle out of my garage yesterday and drove it out and turned it around and put it in reverse to park it on a very slight incline on my driveway close to the garage to clean it, put it in park, and shut if off. I spent a couple hours vacuuming and cleaning it. I then went to turn it on to back it into my garage for the night and it lurched backwards in an alarming scary way - I rolled my passenger window down and asked my husband who was right there if there was something in the way that I had just tried to run over with my car. He assured me there was nothing in the way so I put the car in drive and tried to go forward and it did the same thing. It was like I was trying to go over a log or something. (My husband said the same thing had happened to him when he also had it parked on the slight incline and he said to shut it off and try again). I then shut it off, put it in drive and as soon as I took my foot off the brake it flew forward without me ever touching the gas peddle. I slammed on the brakes and it stopped. It was like the cruise control was set to 60mph and it was accelerating without me in control. I tried another time to get it to operate correctly and the next time the rear wheels locked and it flew forward with the wheels locked, leaving a skid mark on my driveway. My husband then took over trying to figure it out and had the same things happen to him. We left it parked outside in our yard and called Kia. It was towed to Berlin City Kia in Williston VT today. This was all recorded on my ring camera. It also did it when the tow truck driver came. He said "I've been doing this for 23 years and I've never had an experience like this".

NHTSA ID

11583492

Incident

Apr 16, 2024

The contact leased a 2023 Kia Niro EV. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to charge as designed. The message "Charge Interrupted" was displayed on the mobile app that monitored the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the cause of the failure could not be determined; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was opened. The failure mileage was approximately 6,000.

NHTSA ID

11571817

Incident

Jan 20, 2024

Mileage

6,000 mi

I received this recall notice that I thin is a scam as it is not listed on your site. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) <[email protected]> reply-to: [email protected] Your vehicle MAY be involved in a safety recall and MAY create a safety risk for you or your passengers. If left unrepaired, a potential safety defect could lead to injury or even death. Safety defects must be repaired by a dealer at no cost to you. Why am I getting this email? You are receiving this message because you requested to be notified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) if there is a safety recall that may affect your vehicle. The following may apply to one or more of your vehicles if your vehicle is listed below. Click on the NHTSA Recall ID Number below to read more about the safety issue and the reason for the recall. To find out if your specific passenger vehicle is included in the recall, use our VIN Look-up Tool. NHTSA Recall ID Number : 24V057 Manufacturer : Kia America, Inc. Subject : Loss of Drive Power from Faulty Driveshaft Make Model Model Years KIA EV6 2023 KIA NIRO EV 2023-2024 What is a recall? When a manufacturer or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) determines that a vehicle creates an unreasonable risk to safety or fails to meet minimum safety standards, the manufacturer is required to fix that vehicle at no cost to the owner. That can be done by repairing it, replacing it, offering a refund (for equipment) or, in rare cases, repurchasing the car. What should I do if my vehicle is included in this recall? If your vehicle is included in this recall, it is very important that you get it fixed as soon as possible given the potential danger to you and your passengers if it is not addressed. You should receive a separate letter in the mail from the vehicle manufacturer, notifying you of the recall and explaining when

NHTSA ID

11569836

Incident

Feb 4, 2024

The vehicle is usually charged on a level 2 system set to 40 amps or 9 KW/hr. In October of 2023, I received the following message from the Kia connect application, "Charge Interrupted". The car disconnected electrically from the wall unit/charger because the connector unit in the car where the cable plugs into or internal charging unit was getting hot. This "charging interrupted" is a known issue with Kia and Hyundai electric cars so much so that they have issued a Technical Service Bulletin SB, ELE288 which reprograms the car charging logic for level 2 charging. The TSB dramatically slows down the charge rate (from 9 KW/hr to 5 KW/hr when the connector or charging unit gets hot through normal charging. The net effect of this TSB, work around has doubled the time required to charge at the level 2 rate indicated in the owners manual (Page 1-17). Kia needs to address this problems via a hardware fix rather than covering it with a software work-around which doubles level 2 charging times by reducing the charging rate. I bought this electric car under the impression from the manufacture that it could charge to its battery 0-80% in 6-7 hours. The new reality of the TSB fix for overheated charging components is a 12 plus hour recharge to 80%. The TSB fix for overheating components is reducing the value and the utility of my new car. Please investigate this issue as it also shows up in the Kia EV6, Hyundai Ionic 5 and 6, as all cars are probably using the same connector design or sharing parts.

NHTSA ID

11569149

Incident

Oct 5, 2023

I had front collision that caused by having difficulty switching my foot from acceleration pedal (gas pedal) to brake pedal, my foot movement from gas pedal to brake pedal has been restricted by friction between my shoe and brake pedal that delayed my foot movement and caused the accident, Automatic emergency brake did not function too. Also air bags did not open at this front collision.

NHTSA ID

11557277

Incident

Nov 25, 2023

The car continues to not be able to charge at home. My other electric car (different manufacturer polestar) with the same cord charges without issues. The cord only allows 27amps and the car abruptly stops charging over and over. I have to reset it constantly. This continues to be an issue and the car shows no problems with the battery and there is no fix from Kia.

NHTSA ID

11540438

Incident

Aug 23, 2023

Charge Interruptions session. The Kia Niro EV interrupt charging on a Level 2 50amp ChargePoint Home Flex charge. I contact the Charger company ChargePoint and reduce the power to 40 amps. The car charging improve slightly but continue interruption. The on board CSS J1772 port of the car overheat and stop charging. Same issue that the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, Kia EV6, and Genesis EV.

NHTSA ID

11536013

Incident

Aug 2, 2023

There have been days where the weather starts out to be low to no rain or snow and then while driving from Kenosha, WI to Milwaukee, WI the rain or snow gets heavier or mild and the smart cruise control will stop and say radar blocked and it will disable the use of it and disable regenitive braking as well. So if you are driving doing 70+ the speed limit on the interstate all of a sudden it will terminate without any warning and now all of a sudden the car behind you is in your truck space so you have to excellerate extremely to avoid getting hit. THis is a extreme safety hazard.

NHTSA ID

11507006

Incident

Jan 31, 2023